scholarly journals Shifting research priorities in maternal and child health in the COVID-19 pandemic era in India: a renewed focus on systems strengthening

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kayur Mehta ◽  
Sanjay Zodpey ◽  
Preetika Banerjee ◽  
Stephanie L. Pocius ◽  
Baldeep K. Dhaliwal ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Maternal Health ◽  
Child Health ◽  
Infectious Diseases ◽  
Maternal And Child Health ◽  
Research Priorities ◽  
Neonatal Health ◽  
Vaccine Preventable Diseases ◽  
Research Priority ◽  
And Child Health

AbstractBackgroundThe remarkable progress seen in maternal and child health (MCH) in India over the past two decades has been impacted by setbacks from the COVID-19 pandemic. We aimed to undertake a rapid assessment to identify key priorities for public health research in MCH in India within the context and aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic.MethodsA web-based survey was developed to identify top research priorities in MCH. It consisted of 26 questions on six broad domains: vaccine preventable diseases, outbreak preparedness, primary healthcare integration, maternal health, neonatal health, and infectious diseases. Key stakeholders were invited to participate between September and November 2020. Participants assigned importance on a 5-point Likert scale, and assigned overall ranks to each sub-domain research priority. Descriptive statistics were used to examine Likert scale responses, and a ranking analysis was done to obtain an “average ranking score” and identify the top research priority under each domain.ResultsAmongst the 84 respondents, 37% were public-health researchers, 25% healthcare providers, 20% academic faculty and 13% were policy makers. Across the six domains, most respondents considered conducting research on systems strengthening as extremely important. The highest ranked research priorities were strengthening the public sector workforce (vaccine preventable diseases), enhancing public-health surveillance networks (outbreak preparedness), nutrition support through community workers (primary care integration), encouraging at least 4-8 antenatal visits (maternal health), neonatal resuscitation to reduce birth asphyxia (neonatal health) and pediatric and maternal screening and treatment of tuberculosis (infectious diseases). Common themes identified through open-ended questions were also systems strengthening priorities across domains.ConclusionsThe overall focus for research priorities in MCH in India during the COVID-19 pandemic is on strengthening existing services and service delivery, rather than novel research. Our results highlight pivotal steps within the roadmap for advancing and sustaining maternal and child health gains during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and beyond.

scholarly journals Shifting research priorities in maternal and child health in the COVID-19 pandemic era in India: A renewed focus on systems strengthening

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (8) ◽  
pp. e0256099
Author(s):  
Kayur Mehta ◽  
Sanjay Zodpey ◽  
Preetika Banerjee ◽  
Stephanie L. Pocius ◽  
Baldeep K. Dhaliwal ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Maternal Health ◽  
Child Health ◽  
Infectious Diseases ◽  
Maternal And Child Health ◽  
Research Priorities ◽  
Neonatal Health ◽  
Vaccine Preventable Diseases ◽  
Research Priority ◽  
And Child Health

Background The remarkable progress seen in maternal and child health (MCH) in India over the past two decades has been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. We aimed to undertake a rapid assessment to identify key priorities for public health research in MCH in India within the context and aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods A web-based survey was developed to identify top research priorities in MCH. It consisted of 26 questions on six broad domains: vaccine preventable diseases, outbreak preparedness, primary healthcare integration, maternal health, neonatal health, and infectious diseases. Key stakeholders were invited to participate between September and November 2020. Participants assigned importance on a 5-point Likert scale, and assigned overall ranks to each sub-domain research priority. Descriptive statistics were used to examine Likert scale responses, and a ranking analysis was done to obtain an “average ranking score” and identify the top research priority under each domain. Results Amongst the 84 respondents from across 15 Indian states, 37% were public-health researchers, 25% healthcare providers, 20% academic faculty and 13% were policy makers. Most respondents considered conducting systems strengthening research as extremely important. The highest ranked research priorities were strengthening the public sector workforce (vaccine preventable diseases), enhancing public-health surveillance networks (outbreak preparedness), nutrition support through community workers (primary care integration), encouraging at least 4–8 antenatal visits (maternal health), neonatal resuscitation to reduce birth asphyxia (neonatal health) and screening and treatment of tuberculosis (infectious diseases). Common themes identified through open-ended questions primarily included systems strengthening priorities across domains. Conclusions The overall focus for research priorities in MCH in India during the COVID-19 pandemic is on strengthening existing services and service delivery, rather than novel research. Our results highlight pivotal steps within the roadmap for advancing and sustaining maternal and child health gains during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and beyond.

Factors associated with reporting good maternal health-related knowledge among rural mothers of Yemen

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-19
Author(s):  
Dalia Hyzam ◽  
Mingyang Zou ◽  
Michael Boah ◽  
Huda Basaleem ◽  
Xiaoli Liu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Health Care ◽  
Maternal Health ◽  
Child Health ◽  
Maternal And Child Health ◽  
Health Knowledge ◽  
Factors Associated ◽  
Women's Knowledge ◽  
Women’S Knowledge ◽  
And Child Health

Abstract Increasing women’s knowledge about maternal health is an important step towards empowering them and making them aware of their rights and health status, allowing them to seek appropriate health care. In Yemen, the ongoing conflict has hampered the delivery of health information to women in public health facilities. This study examined rural women’s knowledge of, and attitude towards, maternal and child health in Yemen and identified the factors associated with good maternal health knowledge. The study was conducted between August and November 2018. A sample of 400 women aged 15–49 years who had delivered in the 6 months prior to the survey were systematically selected from selected public health facilities in Abyan and Lahj. Women were interviewed using a structured questionnaire to gather data on their demographic and economic characteristics, obstetric history and responses to health knowledge and attitude questions. Women’s knowledge level was assessed as poor or good using the mean score as a cut-off. Chi-squared test and multiple logistic regression analysis were used to identify statistically significant factors associated with good maternal health knowledge. The percentage of women who had good knowledge was 44.8% (95% CI: 39.8–49.8). Women’s attitude towards maternal health was negative in the areas of early ANC attendance, managing dietary regime and weight during pregnancy, facility delivery, PNC visits, cord care and mother and child health management. Women with primary education, whose husbands had received no formal education, who had their first ANC visit from the second trimester of pregnancy and who had fewer than four ANC visits were more likely to have poor health knowledge. Conversely, those with higher household income and only one child were more likely to have good maternal health knowledge. Overall, women’s knowledge on maternal and child health care in rural areas of Yemen was low. Strategies are needed to increase rural women’s knowledge on maternal and child health in this conflict-affected setting.

Maternal and Child Health and Public Health Core Competencies Scale

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Harolyn M. E. Belcher ◽  
Jacqueline D. Stone ◽  
Jenese A. McFadden ◽  
Tyler A. Hemmingson ◽  
Cary Kreutzer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Child Health ◽  
Maternal And Child Health ◽  
Core Competencies ◽  
And Child Health

scholarly journals Community Radio Supporting Maternal and Child Health and Preventing obstetric Fistula in an area impacted by climate change

2018 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Selim Shahriar ◽  
Abdullah Al Mahmood ◽  
Nitta Biswas ◽  
Sk Nazmul Huda ◽  
Radio Nalta ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Maternal Health ◽  
Child Health ◽  
Maternal And Child Health ◽  
Obstetric Fistula ◽  
Radio Station ◽  
Community Radio ◽  
Development Partner ◽  
Radio News ◽  
And Child Health

Aims: To describe how a community radio station and its allied resources have supported maternal and child health promotion and prevention of fistula in hard to reach and climate change-affected areas in Bangladesh. Methods:  The volunteers and operators of Radio Nalta were provided training on maternal health and fistula communication by a development partner. Information packs were made available through different institutions. Results: We produced and broadcast public service announcements on maternal health and fistula, integrated maternal health and fistula related messages radio plays and prioritized maternal health and fistula coverage in community radio news. We aired 11 talk shows on fistula, eight in observation to International day to end obstetric fistula. We reached 600,000 people with fistula information. Conclusions: Community radio can help in reaching out populations in hard to reach areas with information and education for promoting maternal health and prevention of fistula. Coastal areas are impacted by climate change and the community radio can effectively communicate with communities there. 

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